When gait training is performed for rehabilitation, for example, during convalescence from a stroke or a leg injury, many gait trainees experience difficulty in supporting their body weight because they cannot put their strength into their legs. In such cases, if part (e.g., 20 kg) of body weight (e.g., 60 kg) loaded on legs can be reduced (e.g., down to 40 kg), gait training can be easily performed, and thus body-weight-supported gait devices that support body weight to perform gait training have been proposed. Examples of the body-weight-supported gait devices include a body-weight-supported gait lift 80 of a conventional example 1 (Patent Document 1) depicted in FIG. 8 and a body-weight-supported gait lift 90 of a conventional example 2 (Patent Documents 2 and 3) depicted in FIGS. 9A to 9D.
The body-weight-supported gait lift 80 of the conventional example 1 depicted in FIG. 8 includes a movable frame 82 and a lifting device 83. The movable frame 82 is placed on a floor via casters 81 so as to be displaceable in a front-and-rear direction, and an upper portion of the movable frame 82 extends above the head of a gait trainee T. The lifting device 83 is hung on the upper portion of the movable frame 82 and lifts the gait trainee T to support his/her body weight. When the gait trainee T walks forward while pushing the movable frame 82 forward, the movable frame 82 moves forward together with the gait trainee T.
The body-weight-supported gait lift 90 of the conventional example 2 depicted in FIGS. 9A to 9D includes: a rail 91 that is provided in a position above the head of a gait trainee T and extends in a front-and-rear direction; a travel base 92 that is attached to the rail 91 in a manner capable of being self-propelled; and a lifting device 93 that is hung on the travel base 92 and lifts the gait trainee T to reduce part of his/her body weight loaded on the legs of the gait trainee T. The gait trainee T manually operates the travel base 92 with a control panel (not depicted), whereby the travel base 92 is caused to move forward in accordance with his/her pace.